1 INTRODUCTION TO SOCIAL MEDIA An Art and …...Chapter 1 • Introduction to Social Media: An Art...

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INTRODUCTION TO SOCIAL MEDIAAn Art and Science

Learning ObjectivesHumans of Social MediaIntroductionHow Do We Define Social Media?How Has Social Media Evolved?

The Current State of Social MediaWho “Owns” Social Media?

Using Social Media StrategicallyWhich Social Media Platforms Should I Use?Working in Social Media

Bridging the Science and Practice of Social MediaWhat Can Science Tell Us About Social Media?How Is Social Media Like a Practice?How Can We Bridge Science and Art

Effectively?Chapter SummaryThought QuestionsExercisesReferences

1LEARNING OBJECTIVES

After reading this chapter, you will be able to

•• Define social media•• Differentiate between social

media platforms•• Explain the evolution of social

media over time•• Identify the main considerations

for using social media strategically

•• Identify the key characteristics of the science and art of social media

HUMANS OF SOCIAL MEDIADEIRDRE BREAKENRIDGE, AUTHOR, PROFESSOR, AND CEO OF PURE PERFORMANCE

Introduction

I’ve been working in public relations and mar-keting for 25-plus years. Although I started my career focused on media relations and publicity, today I’m a chief relationship agent (CRA) and a communications problem solver to help organi-zations tackle their relationship challenges and build credibility and trust with the public. I’m the author of five Financial Times Press books, including Social Media and Public Relations: Eight New Practices for the PR Professional (2012),

Putting the Public Back in Public Relations: How Social Media Is Reinventing the Aging Business of PR (with Brian Solis, 2009), and PR 2.0: New Media, New Tools, New Audiences (2008). My sixth book, Answers for Modern Communicators, was published by Routledge in October 2017. I also moved my authoring to a new platform when I was asked to become a Lynda.com video author in 2014. My video courses include Public Relations Fundamentals, Media Training, and Handling an Unruly Audience. As an adjunct professor, I teach online PR and social media courses for the

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4 Part I • Foundation for Creating a Strategic Mindset

University of Massachusetts Amherst Journalism Department and for Rutgers University’s PR certificate program. I also speak nationally and internationally on the topics of PR, marketing, branding, and social media communications.

How did you get your start in social media?

I wish I had some great epiphany back in 2003. However, my journey began when I experienced an embarrassing situation with a client during a presentation to launch a new tech product. I was an agency owner at the time. My team and I were sharing our PR plan for the launch of a load bal-ancer product that required a new media focus.

After we wrapped up our presentation, the CEO of the company looked at me and said, “This is good, but where are all of the new media chan-nels?” Not a good feeling when you thought you delivered the latest strategies and tactics to reach the media and other important stakehold-ers. From that point forward, my new media/social media research increased tenfold. By 2007, I was working on a manuscript for Financial Times Press that would eventually become PR 2.0—a book to educate PR professionals on how to bridge the gap between traditional, online, and social media. I didn’t want other pros to experience that “uh-oh” moment with their clients or executives. The “aha” moment is always much better.

What is your favorite part of working in your social media area of expertise?

Social media is one of the best ways to build rela-tionships when you can’t meet and collaborate in person. For anyone who says you can’t build a relationship through social media, I say, “You’re not using social media correctly.” There is an incredible amount of intelligence you can gather through social media to help you learn more about people and build a relationship. Social media levels the playing field. It’s less about titles and your position and more about like-minded thinking and passionate causes. When you take a peer-to-peer approach (companies have to be more human and transparent too), you can become a trusted resource.

My best example of the power of social media and PR started with a Facebook conver-sation. During the early days of Facebook, I was participating in a marketing technology group, offering information to another group member

who had inquired about data mining. Although I didn’t have the answer to her question, I knew that one of my colleagues would be able to help her. So I jumped into a conversation and made the introduction. Helping a peer in the group led to a few sidebar conversations between the two of us. After a few back-and-forth discussions, we moved to email. Finally, we took the relation-ship offline and met in person. Before I knew it, my marketing communications firm was looking at a large retainer client for a few years after the initial Facebook encounter.

What is one thing you can’t live without while working in social media?

Social media is one of the easiest ways for you to connect quickly and collaborate with your col-leagues, media, influencers, clients, and others. I can’t live without the instantaneous interaction and how I receive answers to important inquiries within minutes. It’s that quick direct message (DM) you send to an influencer to participate in a client Facebook Live interview at an industry conference. Or it’s that Facebook message to a colleague when you have a great opportunity to partner on a client account. It’s also the ability for my students to DM me on Twitter when they have an urgent question or an emergency situation. For me, social media has become an indispens-able part of my PR and marketing tool kit that helps me to develop, maintain, and build even stronger relationships.

What is your favorite social media account (person, brand, etc.) to follow, and why?

Although I really like Instagram and I think Snapchat is where you can find the bulk of mil-lennials and Generation Z, I’m still addicted to Twitter. Since the 2016 U.S. presidential election, I find myself tapping into the Twitter feeds of sev-eral news outlets and political figures who report of the state of our affairs from foreign policy to education and health care. After all, we have a president who uses Twitter to announce policy and to share his thoughts in 140 characters or less, making it my go-to platform.

In addition, on Twitter, I’m able to carve out important conversations regarding my clients and what will affect their industries, the latest trends in media, and influencer conversations

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Chapter 1 • Introduction to Social Media: An Art and Science 5

and community discussions that are important to my own growth and professional development. Most of all, Twitter is a place where colleagues, peers, academics, influencers, and students can find me and ask me questions from PR and rela-tionship building to reputation management and the changing media landscape.

What is the most challenging part of working in social media?

The ever-changing media landscape poses a challenge in two ways. First, you always have to be 10 steps ahead of your customers. The media landscape is incredibly fragmented with new social media communities proliferating at a rapid pace. You have to stay current on the platforms and understand how and where people connect. Of course, there is only so much time in a day, and professionals are always challenged to learn and embrace new media channels. At the same time, making the determination that you’re going to become a part of a social media community and be a helpful resource also means you have to measure and be accountable for the time and resources you put into your engagement efforts. Measurement has always been a challenge. With changing technology, you may find yourself con-stantly learning new ways to measure and report your findings. From understanding what you want to achieve and the metrics you need to dem-onstrate value, you as a professional must learn to capture, filter, and analyze data. Because of social media, you have to be more comfortable with data to prove how your programs impact your business—and how data can also improve your communications moving forward.

What is your take on your area of expertise and the social media industry?

Public relations and social media go hand in hand. Traditionally, PR people are the story-tellers. They are the relationship builders who

create the bridges of goodwill between orga-nizations and their publics. PR professionals are also the brand police who work tirelessly to watch, listen to, maintain, and protect the brand. Of course, social media takes your brand to new heights of awareness and offers the abil-ity to build a larger digital footprint. At the same time, PR has to be right there communicating effectively on behalf of an organization while maintaining a trusted reputation, wherever the company and its employees participate. Social media and PR together can propel your brand forward. When you fuse community and rela-tionships with collaborative technology, the result is stronger bonds, customer loyalty, and brand advocacy.

What do you wish you had known when you were starting out?

If I were to give advice to my 21-year-old self, I would say, “Don’t take anything too personally and always remember whatever happens and whatever is said may not be about you. When you have interactions with people in your per-sonal life or throughout your career, what they say and how they react have more to do with their own personal or professional situations and what they’re going through.” To my peers and younger professionals: “Remove your emo-tional self and be an observer of any situation. Because social media is an important part of our lives both personally and professionally, remember that you’ll collaborate with many inspiring individuals and you’ll grow from those relationships. But also keep in mind that there will be uneasy and tense interactions that make you take pause. Try to remember to step back, remove your emotional self, and learn from the situation.”

Deirdre Breakenridge is an award-winning public relations practitioner, educator, and author. She can be contacted via Twitter at @dbreakenridge, and her website is www.deirdrebreakenridge.com.

INTRODUCTION

There was a time in the not-so-distant past when nobody was tweeting, snapping, sending out notes, or live streaming videos of their daily lives, which might be hard to imagine. Today, with a click of a button on our mobile devices, we are able to showcase and share our views, perspectives, and thoughts with the global community. We bypass the mainstream media to create our own communities, networks, and personal identities, all with a few clicks, uploads, and completions.


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A number of memorable events demonstrate the power of social media. Oreo established itself as a digital legend for its “You can still dunk in the dark” tweet at the Super Bowl in New Orleans in 2013, which led future brands to try to interject themselves into any trending event and issue on social media years afterward. The 2014 amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) Ice Bucket Challenge gained momentum on social media after celebrities, sports figures, and everyday people shared personal-ized videos as they dumped buckets of ice water on themselves to raise awareness of the disease (Braiker, 2014). Funds raised by this campaign helped scientists discover a new gene tied to ALS (Rogers, 2016). The “Brexit” campaign of July 2016, in which voters in the United Kingdom chose to exit the European Union, succeeded in part due to the impact of social media (Singh, 2016). Snapchat became Snap Inc. as the organization incorporated being a camera company into its mission with the unveil-ing of its new glasses, Spectacles. The company launched a guerrilla marketing cam-paign featuring the disclosure of random locations around the United States where people could purchase a pair of Spectacles from a Spectacles bot (Wagner, 2016). This campaign resulted in widespread buzz from users. People in line at a bot took photos and shared their enthusiasm online, creating the ultimate “fear of missing out” (FOMO) moments online. In 2017, Wendy’s, MoonPie, and Cinnabon entered the social media space for their wit and interjecting their personalities into their social media message strategies, which resulted in Wendy’s embracing this so much that it brought its snarky voice and tone to the mainstream in a 2018 Super Bowl com-mercial. These cases represent different areas and different goals—but they share something important. All of these campaigns approached their goals in a strategic way, built by combining the underlying research principles (science) and the creative executions (art) of social media.

As demonstrated in just these examples, social media has matured and become a staple in our global society. Social media is not just a fad that can be addressed in a moment’s notice. This evolving specialization, entity, and constant focus within society continues to grow and expand itself beyond anything imaginable. Businesses, corporations, agencies, and even universities are taking notice not only of the power social media has on their own businesses, but of how it can be directly applied and integrated for personal branding purposes.

When it comes to social media, various terms and definitions could be classified as the main focus. Many professionals have provided their own take on what social media means. Yet the social media tools being used today are quite different from their original purposes and functions.

This chapter will provide you with the background of social media as a concept, profession, and specialization in the 21st century. While tools change, the behaviors and strategies behind these tools are what will be covered not only in this chapter but also in this textbook.

HOW DO WE DEFINE SOCIAL MEDIA?

Social media has been defined, classified, and conceptualized in probably a million different ways. Social media combines “a wide range of online, word-of-mouth forums including blogs, company sponsored discussion boards and chat rooms, consumer-to-consumer e-mail, consumer product or service ratings websites and forums, Internet discussion boards and forums, [and] microblogs” (Mangold & Faulds, 2009). Lariscy, Avery, Sweetser, and Howes (2009) defined social media as “online practices that utilize technology and enable people to share content, opinions, experiences, insights,


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and media themselves” (p. 314). Social media shares some features with previous platforms for communication but has unique aspects as well (Kleinberg, 2008). Social media is about “people” (Marken, 2007), and the technology not only provides means for establishing and maintaining relationships but also allows users to create their own (user-generated) content to share with others in the online community (Waters, Burnett, Lamm, & Lucas, 2009). Some of the content that individuals share with others in their online networks includes information regarding news events, updates on personal and professional achievements, and multimedia content. Social media has “amplified the power of consumer-to-consumer conversations in the marketplace by enabling one person to communicate with literally hundreds or thousands of other consumers quickly and with relatively little effort” (Mangold & Faulds, 2009, p. 361). As a result, official messages are competing for consumer attention with many other sources of information.

Some professionals classify it as a group of social networks that allow conversa-tions and relationships to emerge. Others focus on the community aspect in which people are able to converse together in a centralized location to collaborate and initi-ate dialogue. All of these are key characteristics of social media, but in any case, keep in mind that this definition will need to be fluid and adaptive to the growing list of tools, features, and changes we are seeing in this particular space. For the purposes of this textbook, one way to define social media is that it can

provide a personalized, online networked hub of information, dialogue, and relationship management. These new communication technology tools allow individual users and organizations to engage with, reach, persuade, and target key audiences more effectively across multiple platforms. Industry professionals, scholars, and social media users have contributed a number of different definitions and conceptualizations of the concept of social media. Some emphasize the role of social media as a toolkit that allows users to create and share content. Others focus on how social media extend Web 2.0 technologies to bring communities together. (Freberg, 2016, p. 773)

The overall functions of social media are not limited to communicating mes-sages designed by professionals for audiences, in parallel to message construction in traditional media. In addition, social media allows users to participate to an extent not seen previously in traditional media. Increased empowerment of the individual stakeholder leads to greater feelings of control over a situation and a willingness to help others in the community, which could potentially be used by brands and corpo-rations to engage with audiences, formulate message strategies, and evaluate their own reputation in the eyes of their online audience members.

With these new shifts in power and breakdown in barriers, brands are expected to listen and respond to stakeholder concerns in new ways. Recognizing the influence of social media provides professionals with the opportunity to use social media strategi-cally to discover potential issues relevant to their stakeholders, to prepare for different scenarios and situations, to implement online communication strategically, and to evaluate results of communications in real time.

In addition, social media platforms serve as gateways where content and con-versations are created and ignited between individuals, brands, organizations, and nations. Essentially, social media platforms provide first-impression management tools for corporations and individuals to showcase their own brands and reputations. While individual social media platforms may be somewhat separated at times from others, they are all part of the same ecosystem. Each platform has its own features,


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dynamic characteristics, and community attributes, but they are integrated with the organization, brand, or individual’s persona online. In addition, they are also one part of the overall communication mix of media channels that can be utilized to share information, establish communities, and formulate relationships for a brand. Earned, paid, shared, and owned media have converged to formulate this new eco-system of communities and networks. Social media is more than just a set of tools to use, but a larger network of communities tied together through virtual and offline connections.

All of the various platforms that make up this social media ecosystem can be quite daunting to visualize. As shown in Figure 1.1, JESS3 and Brian Solis created an infographic outlining the brandsphere of social media for users, businesses, and orga-nizations to take advantage of (JESS3, n.d.). Essentially, this infographic highlights the various platforms available as well as categorizes them based on time. Note, this infographic is relatively “old” in social media standards, but the key concepts are still important. This is different from most of the other visualizations out there for social media, which focus more on the application of the social media platform rather than the specific type of platform.

Several other defining characteristics should be noted when it comes to social media. Each of these computer-based applications and platforms allows users to share and create information, disseminate ideas in various forms, share content, and respond to these pieces of content. In addition, each platform allows you to create your own personal identity with a picture or avatar. An avatar is acceptable to use on certain platforms, but most individuals use one consistent photo across all of their respective accounts online. This is done for several reasons, but a prominent one is to establish a proactive positive online reputation.

FIGURE 1.1 ■ Social Media Brandsphere

Source: Jesse Thomas (JESS3) / Brian Solis, http://jess3.com/social-media-brandsphere/.


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In addition, there is a possibility for these pieces of content (videos, images, posts, updates, etc.) to go viral. Virality, or rapid dissemination of information from person to person, is one way in which news, stories, and updates reach across various networks in a short amount of time.

There are various examples of a post, update, story, or even video becoming viral. Some platforms, like Facebook, allow this to happen much more easily since the con-tent is shared within the platform itself. For example, Chewbacca Mask Mom became famous when she filmed herself on Facebook Live wearing a Chewbacca mask from Kohl’s (Eordogh, 2016). Her laugh became contagious, and everyone began sharing this video. It became the most watched and viral Facebook Live video ever in 2016 with over 130 million views (Eordogh, 2016). Yet content from one platform can become viral on another platform if the content is repurposed. The Taco Bell lens that was used to celebrate Cinco de Mayo in 2016 received a record 224 million views (Johnson, 2016) within Snapchat and when users shared their selfies with the lens on platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

The overall fundamental use and motive behind social media has been to estab-lish personal connections with others and tell our stories virtually. Why do we share what we share online for the world to see? Think about the last time you used social media—what did you share? Why did you share it on a particular platform? It’s important to explore not only where you shared this information, but how and why you decided to share it with one, a few, or everyone in your respective communi-ties. Sometimes, what you share, post, comment, and discuss on various social media platforms is not just for your friends to see, but for the entire world. What you say on social media is public and can be used as documentation. Each action taken on social media has a specific purpose—whether we are creating the content ourselves or con-suming the content to be shared with our communities. Yet we also have the power to comment on and engage with the content as we see fit.

Some fundamental characteristics make social media unique compared to other types of media platforms. First, the platforms are web- and mobile-based applications. Most of the rising applications are mobile based to fit the growing trend for more mobile capabilities without a desktop- or web-specific requirement like Snapchat, Instagram, WhatsApp, and others have done. Second, the power of user-generated content (UGC) is a prominent characteristic of why businesses and individuals like social media. UGC is content that is created directly by a user. This could be a video that you created over the holidays showcasing your zip-lining experience over the Costa Rica terrain with a GoPro camera or even an infographic outlining the main items to bring to the Kentucky Derby. UGC is not the only type of content that can be created on social media; for example, there is branded content (BC or brand storytelling), which a lot of businesses create. This type of content allows brands to emerge as their own media outlets and create their own content uniquely aligned with their goals, mission, and brand voice. This can even be extended to creating advocates or brand ambassadors to help pass along these pieces of branded content (or assets) to other communities around the world. Social media provides an open and dynamic online commu-nity. Individuals and corporations can participate in various communities linked together by similar interests and backgrounds. These communities can brainstorm ideas, share perspectives, and engage in dialogue to formulate networking relation-ships. For example, Hootsuite, a global social media management company based in Vancouver, Canada, has created a brand ambassadorship program for users around the world to share their stories and experiences openly and to connect with other potential users and stakeholders in social media.


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Social media has been defined and characterized as distinguished compared to other forms of media due to the power of its real-time content creation and the level of engagement it offers to users across many respective platforms. That said, social media provides a range of different opportunities, challenges, and experiences for users to take part in, such as

•� Dialogue on a one-to-one, one-to-many, and many-to-many format in real time

•� New relationships, connections, and professional and personal opportunities for your personal brand

•� Visual and immersive storytelling through video, live video, photos, and other multimedia content

•� Providing awareness of the brand voice, story, and people behind the scenes

•� Becoming a resource for education, training, and support for the community

•� Initiating behaviors and call-to-action statements for audiences to note

•� Sending persuasive messages that are strategically targeted using advertising and personalized data

•� Responding immediately to customer inquiries and providing updates on crisis situations

One of the most important things to be aware of is that the definition as well as the statistics, practices, and strategies of social media will change on a frequent basis. You do not need to have all of the answers or even know all of the platforms in play. If you try to learn every single change that happens with each platform, that will become your life as a social media professional. However, it is important to note you may be asked to come up with your own definition of social media, per se, so think about the defining characteristics, features, and overall attributes that make up this dynamic and evolving set of platforms.

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HOW HAS SOCIAL MEDIA EVOLVED?

Social media is still a very young profession and industry, even though it has matured substantially over the years. At each stage, expanded sets of features have been added to meet the increasing expectations of audiences. With each new feature being implemented by one platform, others follow and sometimes take the idea and incorporate it into their own version. Google launched Google+ to compete with Facebook. Instagram created Instagram Stories to compete with Facebook. Facebook is offering a Jobs feature to compete with LinkedIn. So many different platforms competing with each other—it’s essentially a digital media soap opera.

The Current State of Social Media

Social media platforms are in constant flux and evolution, and this could become your job in addition to your other responsibilities. Keep in mind that you want to take a tier system approach to looking at social media in general. Social media plat-forms are divided by function and overall purpose. However, most social media plat-forms are indexed, edited, and revised over time, as well as categorized and searchable online through search engines. Some of the main types of social media platforms are wikis (e.g., Wikipedia), blogs (e.g., WordPress, Medium, and Blogger), collab-orative crowdsourcing sites (e.g., Google Drive, Dropbox, and Box), messaging (e.g., WhatsApp, WeChat, Messenger), microblogging (e.g., Twitter and Weibo), live streaming (e.g., Facebook Live, Instagram Live, and Periscope), mobile-based plat-forms (e.g., Snapchat and Instagram), and business networking (e.g., LinkedIn), to name a few.

Facebook, the largest social media platform in the world, is an example of a social networking site (SNS). Social networking sites can be defined as “(1) web-based services that allow individuals to construct a public or semi-public profile within a bounded system, (2) articulate a list of other users with whom they share a connection, and (3) view and traverse their list of connections and those made by others within the system” (boyd & Ellison, 2008, p. 211). Using an SNS, an indi-vidual can control personal information to share with others. Users can also affiliate with businesses and large organizations that have a presence on these sites by adding them as “friends” (boyd, 2006). Twitter, on the other hand, allows individuals and brands to create, curate, and communicate information in real time in a limited number of characters. Twitter allows users to push content to their followers that can include textual information, hyperlinks, images, videos, and even interactive GIFs for entertainment, information, and conversation purposes. Users can also partici-pate in chat sessions surrounding particular common interests and topics by follow-ing a hashtag, which is a key word preceded by a # sign to allow users to track and follow certain conversations. Many corporations presently have integrated a branded hashtag to help manage their reputation (e.g., Honda, Ford, and Starbucks), as well as embracing user-generated hashtags from their community. Corporations are able to monitor, track, and evaluate the success of a hashtag within a campaign through social media monitoring platforms and analytics using an application programming interface (API). Using API, corporations can create tools and software programs to work with Twitter. In addition, users can get content out to audiences who are not part of the community with the use of hashtags for key terms on trending topics, news items, community events, and industry-related issues.


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Visual and “snackable” content forms such as Instagram and Snapchat are emerg-ing as dominant platforms among users, particularly in the younger generations of audience members. These two platforms are constantly challenging each other with their features. Facebook tried to buy Snapchat in 2013 for $3 billion (Fiegerman, 2014), which caused the social networking giant to continue advancing Instagram (which it bought in 2012) with similar features to compete with Snapchat. Make sure you are on the main platforms being discussed and highlighted in society (see Table 1.1). In this case, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, LinkedIn, and Snapchat are some of the most familiar. Each of these key platforms has set forth some interesting advances and experienced changes throughout its history within the industry.

With the key players in social media, it is important to note that each of these platforms has evolved and had some significant milestones as a company. Some have been bought, transformed, and evolved through the years. Table 1.2 presents some of the main milestones for each platform.

Who “Owns” Social Media?

Indeed, a lot of marketing professionals, PR practitioners, communication scholars, and others have discussed and proposed an argument for why their disci-pline should “own” social media. Everyone wants to claim ownership of the social media discipline and profession (it’s almost like the Iron Throne from Game of Thrones), yet not every profession knows how to make the most of the emerging platforms. Each profession may know how to use social media specifically for its industry or discipline, but it may not be aware of the vast possibilities or ways in which others are using it.

There are many answers to this question, and this has arisen at many professional conferences, academic sessions, and discussions online. Some would say marketing has ownership of social media from a business and analytical standpoint. Marketing most of the time has the finances and support needed to provide businesses and orga-nizations with the means for creating, disseminating, and analyzing the content and

TABLE 1.1 ■ Key Players in Social Media

Platform Founded CEO Key Features

Facebook February 2004 Mark Zuckerberg

Profile, News Feed, Groups, Events, Video, Photos, Search, Messenger, Pages

Instagram October 2010 Kevin Systrom Profiles, Business Pages, Layout, Boomerang, Instagram Live

LinkedIn March 2003 Jeff Weiner Business Profiles, Pages, Groups, Lynda

Twitter March 2006 Jack Dorsey Profile, Newsfeed, Live Video, Images, GIFs

YouTube March 2005 Susan Wojcicki Video, YouTube Red

Snapchat September 2011 Evan Spiegel Snaps, Snapchat My Story, Live Stories, Discover, Spectacles


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TABLE 1.2 ■ Major Milestones for Key Players in Social Media

Platform Major Timeline Events

Facebook

(newsroom.fb.com/company-info/)

•• February 4, 2004: Facebook is founded by Mark Zuckerberg along with Dustin Moskovitz, Chris Hughes, and Eduardo Saverin

•• March 1, 2004: Facebook expands from Harvard to Stanford, Columbia, and Yale

•• September 1, 2004: Facebook Wall is launched

•• 2005: Photo uploading option is offered

•• April 1, 2006: Mobile is launched

•• February 9, 2009: Like button is introduced

•• September 22, 2011: Timeline is introduced

•• April 9, 2012: Facebook buys Instagram for $1 billion

•• February 19, 2014: Facebook buys WhatsApp

•• March 25, 2014: Facebook buys Oculus Rift

•• March 25, 2015: Messenger is launched

•• September 25, 2015: Facebook 360 video is launched

•• December 3, 2015: Live video for profiles is launched

•• February 24, 2016: Facebook Reactions is launched

•• June 9, 2016: Facebook 360 photos are available

•• October 16, 2016: Workplace by Facebook is introduced

Instagram

(instagram-press. com/our-story/)

•• October 6, 2010: Instagram is launched

•• April 9, 2012: Facebook buys Instagram

•• June 30, 2013: Instagram video is launched

•• December 2013: Instagram Direct is launched

•• August 26, 2014: Hyperlapse is launched

•• March 23, 2015: Layout from Instagram is introduced

•• September 1, 2015: Improvements are added for Instagram Direct

•• October 22, 2015: Boomerang is introduced

•• August 2, 2016: Instagram Stories is introduced

•• August 31, 2016: Zoom is introduced

•• January 24, 2017: Live Stories are available globally

•• August 31, 2017: Live Stories are available on the web

•• January 23, 2018: GIF Stickers are introduced

•• February 1, 2018: Type Mode in Stories is introduced

Twitter

(about.twitter.com/en_us/company.html)

•• March 21, 2006: Jack Dorsey sends out his first tweet

•• March 2007: Twitter makes a splash at SXSW Interactive

•• August 2007: First Twitter hashtag is proposed by Chris Messina

•• April 2010: Promoted Tweets are launched

•• June 2010: Promoted Trends are launched

•• May 2011: Twitter buys TweetDeck

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Platform Major Timeline Events

•• June 2012: Twitter receives a new design

•• January 2013: Twitter launches Vine

•• November 2013: Twitter files for initial public offering (IPO)

•• August 2014: Promoted Video is launched

•• January 2015: Direct Messages and mobile video are introduced

•• March 2015: Twitter buys Periscope

•• October 2015: Twitter launches Moments and Polls

•• January 2016: Periscope is embedded in tweets

•• November 2017: Twitter allows tweets to grow from 140 characters to 280 characters

LinkedIn

(about.linkedin.com/)

•• May 2003: LinkedIn is launched

•• April 2007: LinkedIn reaches 10 million users

•• February 2008: LinkedIn launches mobile version

•• January 2011: LinkedIn launches IPO

•• May 3, 2012: LinkedIn buys SlideShare

•• April 9, 2015: LinkedIn buys Lynda.com

•• June 13, 2016: Microsoft buys LinkedIn

YouTube

(www.businessinsider .com/key-turning-points-history-of-youtube-2013-2#in-april-2009-usher-introduced-the-world-to-justin-bieber-via-a-video-on-youtube-12)

•• February 14, 2005: YouTube is created and founded by Chad Hurley, Steve Chen, and Jawed Karim

•• November 2005: YouTube has its first million-hit video with Nike

•• February 2006: YouTube negotiates deal with NBC

•• November 13, 2006: Google buys YouTube for $1.65 billion

•• May 2007: YouTube launches Partner Program

•• June 2007: YouTube hosts presidential debate with CNN

•• August 2007: YouTube launches ads

•• August 2009: Usher and Justin Bieber video is posted

•• January 2010: Movie rentals are available

•• July 2012: Olympics are available to live stream

•• December 2012: “Gangnam Style” hits 1 billion views

Snapchat (fortune.com/2017/02/04/snapchat-abridged-history/)

•• September 2011: Snapchat is initially released

•• October 2013: My Story is launched

•• May 2014: Video Chat is launched

•• September 2016: Snapchat is rebranded to Snap Inc.

•• September 2016: Snapchat Spectacles are introduced

•• March 2017: Snapchat files for IPO

Source: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, and Snapchat.

TABLE 1.2 ■ (Continued)


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how well it is received. Yet some would say the platforms themselves “own” social media. Social media is not like traditional media in a way that we would classify it on the media spectrum, but there has been a shift in the “pay-to-play” model, essentially forcing users and corporations to pay for their content to be seen by the right target audience at a specific time on their platform. Both Google and Facebook have led the way in this area and have forced this transformation, which has led to this current paid content model for social media.

There is a difference, of course, between owned media platforms (e.g., blogs) and earned or shared media platforms (e.g., social media). One way to approach the dif-ference between these types of media is to recognize that one is controlled by the user and the other is controlled by others. Blogs essentially are controlled by individual users who are given the opportunity to decide how their page should look, what content to share, and whether or not they want comments to appear. The power of control is quite prominent, and one way to think about it is like owning a house. You can do whatever you want to it. On the other hand, social media is somewhat con-trollable by the user or brand, but the user or brand is somewhat “renting” the space like an apartment. There are terms of service agreements to follow, and the platform has the opportunity to change these agreements, switch up the features and designs, or even shut down its services.

The answer is no one owns social media. Social media is open for everyone to use to create, share, engage, and come together on. The barrier of entry is minimal, and the opportunity to be part of many diverse communities has never been more acces-sible for professionals, businesses, and organizations.

USING SOCIAL MEDIA STRATEGICALLY

Social media can be for personal use, but you can also use it professionally. Many times, we see how a group uses it for one community it is interacting with, but we forget how this is perceived from other perspectives. On social media, you need to find the balance that allows you to interact and create content that educates and informs your professional audiences of your level of expertise and thought leadership, but you also want to be personal enough so you are not perceived as a robot. There is a fine line between these two worlds, and that is why it is important to use social media strategically and effectively based on your own needs and expectations in the field. Each person is different—there are certain etiquette and professional guidelines to follow and review, but you have to be confident in knowing your own community, voice, and presence online. Social media is all about first impressions, and you want to make sure your name stands out for the right reasons.

Which Social Media Platforms Should I Use?

Choosing the right platforms for your role comes down to a few factors. First and foremost, you do not have to be on every single platform. As presented in Figure 1.2, Facebook still remains the most popular social media platform, with 1.4 billion daily active users and more than 25,000 employees as of December 2017 (Facebook Newsroom, 2018), followed by Instagram, Pinterest, LinkedIn, and Twitter. Yet, like all reports on social media, once content is published, it is out of date and has not accounted for other mobile-based platforms (e.g., Snapchat) gain-ing traction within the community and in society.


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To choose a particular platform, a social media professional must consider the following:

Audiences. Make sure to look first to where your audiences are going. Who are these individuals, and where are they having their conversations? You will of course be able to collect some information from these audiences (demographics, etc.); think about the amount of information Facebook has collected about you over the years from likes, comments, shares, and even videos watched.

Purpose. Platforms will continue to compete with each other to grab the attention and number of users from other platforms. Take the example of Facebook, which acquired Instagram for $1 billion and has transformed it into a dominant multimedia platform. Yet when Facebook wanted to buy Snapchat as well, Snapchat said no. As a result, Facebook has tried to copy various features of the mobile application for its own platform, ranging from filters on Instagram to the Messenger app. Each platform essentially has a specific function and audience in mind. Not all platforms are equal or founded on the same vision or principles. As time goes by, the competition among these brands for eyeballs and usage will only become bigger and more prominent.

For a social media professional, not only is understanding the functions and spe-cifics of the tools important, but so is understanding the behaviors and reasons why people are using these tools in the first place. Each platform has a different overall purpose, as well as trustworthiness factor, whether it involves getting news, creat-ing personal content, engaging in customer service, sharing negative experiences or responding a crisis, sharing and creating stories, or initiating a call to action to drive sales, strengthen reputation, and build on an established community.

Relationships. Identifying the current state of relationships between users on social media platforms is crucial at first. Some users will be your biggest fans and want to be on every platform you are on. However, some users may just want to be on one

FIGURE 1.2 ■ Pew Research Center Social Media Report 2018

% of U.S. adults who use . . .100

75

50

25

02013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018

Facebook Pinterest Instagram LinkedIn

Twitter Snapchat YouTube WhatsApp

Source: “Social Media Update 2016” Pew Research Center, Washington, DC (November 11, 2016). http://www.pewinternet.org/2016/11/11/social-media-update-2016/.


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channel with you based on your brand voice there. This has to be determined and thought out carefully to make sure you are spending the appropriate time, resources, and engagement necessary to foster these relationships as proactively as possible. When it comes to being on social media, you want a strategy in place for why you have a presence on each platform.

Personality. Determining the platform you feel best establishes the personal voice for your business, organization, and even individual brand is something to consider and keep in mind. Certain platforms will feel more natural to you, but try to uti-lize each platform consistently to present a comprehensive brand across the board. Everyone wants the power to showcase who they are and why they are unique.

Showcasing your personality could come in a variety of different forms, from creating content on platforms like Snapchat to showing videos about various trends and daily activities (e.g., Gary Vaynerchuk and his #DailyVee shows). Brands have to showcase their personality with content showing not only what they are doing, but also what they can do to become a resource for their respective audience members. White papers, e-books, webinars, blog posts, podcasts, and even Twitter chat sessions are just some of the methods that are highlighted and expanded upon for brands.

Content. The new model for content creation and marketing on social media has shifted from just pushing content for the sake of self-promotion to becoming more personalized, interactive, and focused on storytelling. Develop the messages and pieces of content that your audiences want. The ideal situation is to think about pieces of content your audiences want, but do not realize they want, from you. This will take some additional brainstorming sessions and strategic planning in order to uncover the messages, pieces of content, and stories to showcase on social media. If you have strong content, this will allow you to become known as a resource for your thought leadership. Brands, individuals, and organizations can become thought leaders in their area as they continue to produce, share, and create content as a go-to resource for innovative ideas; persuade people to take action in response to their created content; and are viewed as trusted sources of information in their area. Mashable established itself as a trusted resource in 2007 when it created a place to share the most recent trends, issues, reports, and campaigns happening in the social and digital space.

Some pieces of content will resonate with an audience on one platform rather than another. You do not always want to post the same content across all platforms. There are some combinations that will work (e.g., Instagram and Facebook with videos), but you want to repurpose and reformat content that is designated with a particular community, platform capabilities, and purpose in mind. In addition, the content needs not only to reflect on the brand’s voice, but also to connect with the audience in terms of user expectations from a brand using this platform.

Innovativeness. Users want to be part of a platform that continues to raise the bar for what a social media platform should be. Responding to user audiences and sug-gestions is another focus these platforms have to be aware of. People have noticed that Facebook has copied a lot of its new features from other platforms like Snapchat. Yet other platforms have been willing (or at least appeared willing) to listen to their audience members’ suggestions for new features. In December 2016, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey went on social media and asked Twitter users what they would like to see in the New Year on the microblogging platform. While this came at a time when Twitter was challenged with key personnel leaving and advertisement and metrics dropping, it was better late than never.


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Analytics. Data will of course be your friend when it comes to engaging with content and audiences on social media, depending on the platforms in question. You will be able to determine what time, frequency, responses, and views you will get. These data and insights will help you determine when it is appropriate to post content and share videos, and even how long a response people expect from a customer comment on social media. In addition, analytics and data will help you determine at the end how well you (or your team) did in addressing the question, challenge, or content created for a campaign. Most of the links, updates, and conversations are archived online and available for collection either through the native measurement platforms on the platform itself or through a third-party service.

Actions. After we have an idea of the audience we want to engage with based on user activity level, we can determine some of the actions these individuals take to participate in our communities online.

Ultimately, you want to take all of these important factors into consideration to determine whether or not you want to be on particular social media platforms. One way to do this is by thoroughly identifying which platforms you are currently using (inventory), determining how well they are performing (audit), and making a choice on what to do with each platform (decision action steps) as outlined in Table 1.3.

TABLE 1.3 ■ Performance and Decision Action Audit

Activity Level Actions

Inventory + Benchmark Audit

•• Identify key audiences and where they are in their relationship with the client (organization, business, agency, etc.) on social media

•• Identify the rationale for why they are on each platform (e.g., to be educated, consume content, gain insights, build communities, or host events and promotions)

•• Evaluate each platform to determine audience, content, relationships, analysis of brand voice, and overall purpose

Evaluation

(Short-Term and Long-Term Impacts)

•• Look at each platform to determine how well it is doing in terms of its KPIs (key performance indicators) and the overall health of the brand community, voice, and investment

•• Evaluate the longevity of the platforms that are aligned with the brand’s mission and business objectives, and determine which platforms to keep and which ones to vote off “social media island” (aka shut down)

Decision + Action Steps •• Formulate a decision tree to determine the overall actions that need to be taken into consideration when evaluating social media platforms

•• Invest in platforms that have an established community but are growing in audiences so more resources and support is needed, or perhaps shut down platforms that are not bringing back return on investment (ROI) to the client or are no longer available

•• Determine whether some platforms are fine, so there is nothing that needs to be done

•• Set a timeline and date for when you do the evaluation and health report again for all of the platforms


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Working in Social Media

Working in social media can be very exciting yet demanding, and the roles con-stantly are changing as fast as the platforms are. Neill and Moody (2015) explored the changes and duties happening for social media strategists and discussed the various tasks, experiences, and expectations facing these professionals in their roles. These duties ranged from handling communication issues to testing emerging technolo-gies, and even discussed the importance of understanding the collection and analysis of data emerging from these platforms. Yet one of the growing areas of discussion about working in social media is whether or not you need to have the same principles and practices for your personal use as your professional use, which Moreno, Navarro, Tench, and Zerfass (2015) discussed in their research. Professionals working in social media had a high level of usage of these platforms for the sole purpose of creating influence in their community, establishing proactive relationships, and becoming relevant influencers in their own right in their thought leadership circles. The social media field and workplace is seeing a shift of focus from return on relationships. Return on Relationship (RoR), according to Ted Rubin (2015), is a must-have for professionals today since “social media drives engagement, engagement drives loyalty and advocacy, and both correlate directly with increased sales.”

The workload and skills necessary to succeed in the field are changing more often than not. Some underlying skills and abilities are still important for organi-zations looking to hire social media professionals. Writing, research, and creative execution are traditional skills seen in marketing, public relations, and other com-munication disciplines. However, the rising expectations of the maturing field have also allowed the expectations for young professionals entering the field to be a bit higher. Of course, this depends on the industry, business, and even company or organization in focus. There is no real set “standard” for the expectations, roles, or even qualifications. Yet, certain fundamental skills, experiences, and qualifications do need to be taken into consideration, and are discussed and highlighted in greater detail in Chapter 4.

The information we share on social media is vastly different from the capability of the original platforms. When Facebook got started in 2004, you were only able to share updates via text, but it has evolved to allow chat bots, live video, virtual reality, mixed reality, and 360-degree immersive experiences.

BRIDGING THE SCIENCE AND PRACTICE OF SOCIAL MEDIA

Social media encompasses both the research and theoretically driven work being done to explore networks, relationships, and how individuals respond and react to various messages and information online. Understanding the foundation of why people behave, share stories and content, and share information publicly and privately provides social media professionals with a sound view of why certain things occur without reinventing the wheel. On the flip side, exploring the creative possibilities for these insights turning into actionable steps and strategies is also important. Bridging these two perspectives together in a way that is both integrated and comprehensive is one of the most important accomplishments of a social media professional.

What Can Science Tell Us About Social Media?

Researchers who have explored social media in their work have used a variety of different theoretical frameworks to help explain and predict why certain attitudes,


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behaviors, and actions are taken online, such as dialogic theory (Kent & Taylor, 2016; Yang & Kent, 2014), user gratification theory (Gao & Feng, 2016), psychological empowerment theory (Li, 2016), and theory of planned behavior (Freberg, 2012). Even in social media research, there are still some challenges and opportunities for researchers to determine how to effectively measure certain concepts in the field, such as engagement (Jiang, Luo, & Kulemeka, 2016; Sisson, 2017; Smith & Gallicano, 2015). Further research in understanding these concepts as well as how they can be strategically applied needs to be taken into consideration. Even though social media has become a source for engagement and an opportunity for users and businesses specifically, little research up to this point discusses how exactly social media fits in the overall strategy from a marketing and communications standpoint (Killian & McManus, 2015), which brings forth the growing need for a bridge between practice and researchers to address this.

Social media can be accomplished by looking at the scientific elements that make up the communities. It helps the strategist understand not only what is happening, but why and how behaviors, actions, and communities happen in any given time. The tools and methods used in traditional disciplines like marketing, education, com-puter science, public relations, advertising, and communication, among others, can help test and evaluate the behaviors of what is happening online. Social media profes-sionals cannot rely just on the creative artistic opportunities social media allows us to use and take advantage of. Instead, we have to hone in on our analytical and scientific approaches and fine-tune our research skills to make sense of the unstructured and substantial data available to understand not only what is being presented but in what context and situation. This adds to the growing expectation and need for social media professionals to have a solid research foundation and background to help them make sense of the data and apply it in a creative and innovative way.

Research. You will have to become one with statistics, Excel spreadsheets, data, and many other mathematical elements when it comes to social media. There are two parts of the equation a successful social media strategist needs to be aware of when looking at the various platforms. First, the actual information and data are collected in a systematic way from the various platforms or third parties. We will cover this in more detail in Chapter 5, but consider the physical elements that are created, shared, and constructed on social media. Social media strategists have to organize the infor-mation in ways that are able to tell us what is going on. This will help identify trends, gaps, opportunities, or even challenges that need to be addressed in a systematic and applied manner. The second element is that research comes down to a science in the systematic process in which the data are analyzed. Most of the time, the data are in raw form and need to be organized in a way that makes sense and is understandable to both the strategist and the client/organization in question (see Chapter 10).

How Is Social Media Like a Practice?

While the previous sections discussed briefly the science (research- or theory-driven) aspect of social media, it is also important to note areas on the other side of the social media coin. Understanding the creative execution is an area most people associ-ate with social media, but each platform has a strategic purpose behind each area.

Creativity. The demands of being creative today in social media are more impor-tant than ever. Without creativity, there is no buzz, excitement, or word-of-mouth conversations that spark audiences to share content. New tools, software programs, and people are coming on board with social media, which is raising the bar to take ideas that would be considered good at any other point in time to the next level.


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Any person can go about sharing and creating content, but content that is unique, invokes an inspired and emotional response, and can cut through the digital and irrelevant noise really makes an impact on the audience. That’s what creativity does for social media. It’s about not just looking at the tools or thinking creativity is all about being artistic. It is the light that shines on the brand and communities that help generate these innovative conversations through insights and data that leads them to have these great ideas. Informed decision making (coined by Rich Calabrese of Fizziology) is about taking creativity, data, and insight into account for social media. Creativity can be disseminated from the top down (organization to key publics), but there is also the co-creation aspect of creativity, where you are able to use your community to help share, brainstorm ideas, and discover content, stories, or original ways of approaching an idea. The ultimate goal is not just to have one organization or brand tell a story but also to create a spark for others to be moti-vated to participate and share these conversations and stories with others.

When it comes to innovative ways to be creative with content, certain cam-paigns and brands have successfully implemented this very well. Pharrell’s “Happy” video went viral immediately after it was showcased by millions and inspired many to re-create the music video with their own voice and personalization in 2013. ALS Association’s Ice Bucket Challenge honed in on the impact of crowdfunding for a significant cause while adding visual creativity to the mix by allowing people to create their own Ice Bucket Challenge videos and tagging their friends, family, and com-munity members on social media. Many such campaigns stand out not only for their creative ideas but also for their creative executions. To be successful when it comes to creativity, you have to have the content, but you also have to have the proper execution.

For example, campaigns like BuzzFeed and Tasty became viral when they started creating short videos of various recipes in snackable forms of content that resonated with audiences. Another campaign got a lot of attention for creating more creative partnerships in which two established brands could share virtually with their communities. Disney and Make-A-Wish Foundation came together in 2016 to raise awareness for terminally ill children with their campaign #ShareYourEars. This campaign was driven primarily through Twitter and Instagram in 2016, and for every post, Disney pledged a $5 donation to the Make-A-Wish Foundation. Not only did the message resonate with the audiences, but the campaign was approached in a creative and visual way. In addition, it was so successful that Disney increased its cap from $1 million to $2 million for the campaign (Make-A-Wish Foundation of America, 2018). Both of these campaigns were strategic in their creative ideas, using their own brand voice, community, and ideas to formulate successful cam-paigns. Creativity doesn’t always mean thinking completely out of the box when it comes to proposing new ideas for a campaign. What it does mean is making informed decisions based on the landscape, industry, audience, and brand through brainstorming sessions, data analysis, and insights gathered.

Storytelling. Everyone has a unique story to share. The worst thing to do is try to tell a story just like someone else’s because that will not be authentic to your brand. Plus, stories that are not executed correctly will be lost in the mix. You could have the best visual effects and videographer out there, but if the execution of your story is not there, it is a waste of time.

Successful stories are able to connect and resonate with audiences on a personal level to drive them to feel a specific emotion based on what they have seen from you. Whether via a video or post, you will make a strong connection if you tap into the emotions of an audience member. Once this connection is made, a memorable experi-ence is added to the story, and this allows the receiver to consider what actions to take.


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Users may just view the piece of content, but they may also be compelled to share it with their network for others to see and experience as well.

The best person to share your story according to what best represents your per-sonality, persona, and vision is you. All successful social media brands, companies, and professionals spend a lot of time and energy sharing their stories in a creative and unique way.

Brands and users can use storytelling effectively in several ways:

•� Allow users to be part of the experience. Some brands allow users to get these experiences and share their viewpoint with others on behalf of the brand. In 2017, Royal Caribbean created an “Intern-ship” contest to find the perfect Instagram explorer to be part of the cruise experience and share content on behalf of the cruise line to drive travel destination sales and buzz (“Royal Caribbean,” 2017).

•� Listen and create relevant content. Data will be your friend when you need it to be in social media. Use data as a guide to what stories and pieces of content you feel will most resonate with your audiences. Taking the initiative to ask questions or tell your audience to do a certain behavior (snap us back a selfie, post a picture on Instagram, etc.) allows you to gauge the user-generated content aspect but also use the buzz, insights, and data to make a more informed decision on what stories to showcase next.

•� Showcase your values. When you are looking at brands or individuals, they may want to focus on their products and services as well as what they can offer you in terms of making a sale. Yet sometimes brands and others stand up for what they believe in and share content featuring what they want to be known for in a different way. Always created a #LikeAGirl campaign (Diaz, 2015) that got a lot of traction for not only its strong message but the way in which it was presented across the various platforms. The message was consistent and resonated with the audiences. Launched during the 2015 Super Bowl, the campaign won a 2015 Emmy for Outstanding Commercial. The integration across the different platforms while staying on message consistently for the brand made it one of the most successful social media campaigns from a strategy perspective.

•� Share your point of view. Gary Vaynerchuk has become a storytelling content machine. From a personal branding standpoint, he has this down to a science by consistently sharing his story and experience through videos, essentially vlogging his daily activities and moves in a consistent and branded manner with his videographer David Rock (otherwise known to the social media world as “DRock”). Gary also emphasizes this strongly to point out the difference between documenting and creating content. Documenting your daily activities online does not mean you are creating content, but rather it is a version of creating focus more on the practical aspect of sharing instead of focusing on storytelling (Vaynerchuk, 2016). The difference is that documenting is creating content of who you are rather than creating content for who you want to be (Vaynerchuk, 2016).

How Can We Bridge Science and Art Effectively?

Throughout this book, you will note there is a growing need for understanding both sides of what makes social media a strategic profession and industry to work,


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research, and teach in. Most of the time, only one side of the coin is presented. Having a balanced approach to research and practice is not only necessary but expected by those working in the field.

Several new expectations are outlined for social media professionals to definitely adapt to for their own sakes, but also for their clients, organizations, businesses, and communities. Some of the following will be discussed and emphasized a bit later in the textbook:

•� Social media is not owned by one person or platform. It is owned by the community.

•� Social media is more than just posting updates and taking snaps. It’s a strategic mindset to embrace.

•� The primary reason for social media is not to publish content to generate hype or FOMO, but to have a purpose and rationale behind it and be a win-win for you and your audiences.

•� Saying you are an expert or “guru” on social media doesn’t truly show your expertise. Your work and the relationships you formulate do.

•� Social media needs to shift from promoting to everyone to fine-tuning your efforts on engaging with your audiences at the right time, on the right channel, and in the right situation.

•� Quality over quantity—whether it is followers, content, or conversations—always wins.

•� Social media roles will evolve, blur with other duties, and sometimes actually disappear.

•� Social media is not about audiences just “seeing” your content. It’s about your audience sharing and responding to your content.

•� Social media is about being “social.” Don’t be a programmed robot.

•� You are what you present yourself as online. First impressions are all that count.

•� People want engagement and content that resonates with them, not spam.

•� Be authentic and consistent, not a constant salesperson.

•� Social media is more than just content. This is surface level, and there’s much more below that is planned, brainstormed, argued, and executed before the post button is even pushed.

CHAPTER SUMMARY

Social media is an evolving area of professional activities and personal relationships. These plat-forms will continue to evolve or, in some cases, dis-appear completely. This is an industry where change is at a rapid pace, sometimes racing at the speed of light and always on the move. Social media profes-sionals may at times feel they are “out of date” with

the technologies even though they are just catch-ing up on last week’s news. There are many areas in which social media can be viewed as both an art and a science, but some fundamental aspects cre-ate bridges between these two areas. Relationships, strategy, and people are what make social media the platform, community, and industry it is today.


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THOUGHT QUESTIONS

1. Based on the reading, how would you define social media? How has social media evolved over time?

2. What are some of the main takeaways from the history of the social media platforms? What points stand out the most?

3. How can social media professionals use the science dimension of social media to

their advantage? What can social media professionals do to spark creativity and innovation in their work? How can these two areas collaborate together?

4. Discuss how research and practice are key parts of what makes social media the way it is today.

EXERCISES

1. You enter a job interview and the human resources director asks you to define social media and answer the question, “Is social media a science or an art?” Discuss your thoughts on this and use a current campaign or case study as evidence to support your points.

2. You are applying for an internship with Texas Roadhouse for the summer, and the manager has asked you to come up with some potential ideas for the restaurant to use for storytelling on social media. Provide a

few suggestions for content Texas Roadhouse could consider creating that is both branded and user-generated, and include a rationale for each.

3. You have been asked to create a social media audit for a local nonprofit in town. The firm is on all of the social media platforms but does not get as much engagement on Twitter as it wants. Discuss the process you will go through in determining which platforms to use and no longer use.

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